Trip to the Capital

About a week and a half ago we found out that we would not be able to do the paperwork necessary to keep our residency up to date here in La Ceiba. We would have to make a trip to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, in order to renew our residency card because the machine here in La Ceiba is broken. This was not exactly what we wanted to hear, because the trip to Teguc is about 6 hours in a car each way.

Dixi did not have school last Thursday and Friday because her school was being fumigated, so we decided to make the trip over these two days. It turned out to be a fun time as a family and Dixi got to experience some new things!

Thursday morning we got up early and made the drive. We arrived in Teguc with enough time to get to the immigration office and complete the paperwork necessary and we walked away with brand new, shiny cards that are good for another year!

Then we drove across the city to our hotel. We weren't sure what is was going to be like since we just booked it online.. It turned out to be fine and Dixi was beyond excited because she had never stayed in a hotel before. Also, she went into the bathroom and found a bathtub (not common at all in houses here). She could hardly wait until the evening to take her first ever bath in a bathtub.

Dixi w/ characters from Hotel Transylvania in mall food court

We found that there was a mall close to our hotel, so we drove there and it was like being in a mall in the US. It was three stories and had tons of stores that we hadn't seen in a long time. It was fun just to walk around for all three of us! After dinner we made our way back to the hotel, where Dixi was able to enjoy her bath, and went to bed on the early side because we had another long day of travel ahead of us.

On the drive back we stopped at Joya Grande, a zoo about halfway between Teguc and La Ceiba. It was about a half hour drive on a dirt road from the highway, but turned out to be totally worth it. We were able to see lions and tigers (no bears...) and monkeys and so many other cool things. Dixi and I were most impressed by the two hippopotami. They were enormous. We also got to feed the giraffe and Ashley even reached out and petted his nose.

Dixi timidly feeding the giraffe

After the zoo, we finished our drive back to La Ceiba and were happy to be home again. All in all it was a great trip. We got our paperwork done and we were able to spend some quality, fun time with Dixi and we all got to experience some new things! The Lord knew better than us that it would be worth it for us to make the trip when we didn't really want to do it.

Hey, what are you looking at?

napping tigers

Pastor Ovidio

We have very exciting news to share with you all! The Lord has brought into our ministry a man to start a church in La Fe!

Mike and Ovidio

Ovidio is from La Fe and has lived there with his family for the last few years. He is a single man (his wife died years ago) who lives with one of his daughters and her family. Ovidio has helped pastor a church before and so obviously loves Jesus and loves the community of La Fe. We are so excited to welcome him as our team's newest national partner!

We have gone through a process over the last six months or so looking for a man to lead a church-plant in La Fe. We were especially hoping to find someone from the community. In the last few weeks, the Lord made it clear that Ovidio was that man.

Please join in praying with us for Ovidio and for the process of starting a church. Also, pray for us as this is all very new to us. my main job, in the few weeks we are here before our furlough starts, will be to mentor and disciple and help out Ovidio in any way I can.

This is very exciting for us because this is what we came here to do - plant churches. The job is by no means finished, but this step of finding a Honduran leader is a big one. Praise the Lord!